CenturyLink Center is an arena and convention center facility in the North Downtown neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska. The 1.1 million ft² facility has an 18,975-seat arena, a 194,000-ft² exhibition hall and 62,000 ft² of meeting space.

The arena opened in 2003 as Qwest Center Omaha. It adopted its current name on July 15, 2011[7] as part of a $22 billion buyout of Qwest by CenturyLink (formerly CenturyTel).[8] All signage, inside and outside, was changed to conform to the new arena name; lighting was also switched (from blue to green). The transition was expected to be completed by August 1, 2011; the outside name changes were finally completed on December 20, 2011.

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In 2000, Omaha voters approved a $216 million bond issue to build a new convention center and arena; the remainder of the $291 million project was provided by private organizations and individuals. The facility design was led by architectural firm DLR Group. Naming rights to the arena were purchased by Qwest.

Qwest Center Omaha opened in September 2003 with an initial seating capacity of 17,000 for concerts, 15,500 for basketball, and 14,700 for hockey. In 2006, a $5.7-million expansion of the arena increased capacity by approximately 1,500 seats.

The Qwest Center displaced the 1954 Omaha Civic Auditorium as the premier indoor arena in the city. The venerable Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum was closed in 2002 and was demolished in 2005.

The 2008 USA SwimmingSummer Olympic Trials were hosted over eight days at the Qwest Center and on June 29, 2009 it was announced the trials would return again in 2012. The 2008 event averaged more than 12,000 spectators each night.[10]

A portion of the roof, "The Hat", was damaged by a storm on June 27, 2008. There was no structural damage, but the damage caused water to pour into parts of the Qwest Center, flowed down two sets of arena steps and onto the deck of the competition pool for the USA SwimmingSummer Olympic Trials. The schedule for the trials went on as planned.[11]

In 2011 it was announced the name would be changed to CenturyLink Center Omaha. Following the name change, Lights were changed from blue to green, and new logos were also changed from Qwest Center Omaha to Century Link Center Omaha.

On the evening of March 8, 2014, the largest crowd to attend a Creighton University basketball game occurred when 18,868 fans witnessed the Creighton men's team defeat Providence on Doug McDermott's career-high senior night performance of 45 points.[12]

On January 13, 2012, the largest crowd to ever watch a hockey game in Nebraska occurred when 16,138 fans attended the game between the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Minnesota-Duluth.[22]

The CenturyLink Center holds several NCAA attendance records, particularly in college volleyball. Qwest Center owns the top three NCAA tournament attendance record. The highest attendance to ever watch a volleyball match in the United States occurred when 17,340 fans watched the 2008 NCAA National Semifinal match between Penn State and Nebraska. The second highest attendance in NCAA tournament history occurred when 17,209 fans watched Nebraska defeat Stanford for the 2006 NCAA championship. For the 2008 NCAA National Championship, 14,299 people watched Penn State defeat Stanford, the third highest attendance in NCAA tournament history and just two days after the Qwest Center broke the attendance record for the semifinals.[23]